Part of his speech was a response to the witness shared by several people during the vigil, that included prayer, singing, and was set to close with eucharistic adoration.
For example, Erika and Rogelio, a married couple with four children, spoke about how less than three years ago, when she was in her 40s, they found out they were pregnant, and it was labeled high risk. On week 17 they learned that their baby girl, Inés, had Down Syndrome, and the doctors advised them to get an abortion.
Instead, they decided to go forth with the pregnancy and “abandon ourselves in the hands of God.”
During his remarks, the pontiff thanked the couple for their “yes,” and for sharing their challenges and difficulties, and for choosing to love their daughter with all their hearts.
“Presented with the life of your frail, helpless and needy daughter, your answer was ‘yes’, and so we have Inés,” Francis said. “You believed that the world is not only for the strong!”
Saying “yes” to God means being ready to embrace life as it comes, even with its fragility, simplicity and its conflicts and annoyances.
“It means embracing our country, our families and our friends as they are, with all their weak points and their flaws,” the pontiff told the crowd. “Embracing life is also seen in accepting things that are not perfect, pure or ‘distilled’, yet no less worthy of love.”
He then went on to ask if a disabled person, a foreigner, or someone who’s made a mistake and is in jail or those who are infirm are “not worthy of love?”
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